Oleg Tinkov is the founder of Tinkoff Bank, the second largest provider of credit cards in Russia. Posting on social media, the 52-year old banking tycoon hit out at Putin’s invasion, describing it as “insane”. Claiming that only a small number of “morons” support it, Mr Tinkov described the war as a “massacre”.
It is not known whether or not Mr Tinkov was in Russia when he made the remarks.
This comes as Putin has summoned business leaders for a meeting at the Kremlin, taking place later today.
The list of attendees has not been made public.
Writing on Instagram in Russian, Mr Tinkov said: “I don’t see ANY beneficiary of this crazy war! Innocent people and soldiers are dying.”
Mr Tinkov said that Russian generals had “woken up with a hangover”, realising that their army was “s***”.
He continued: “But how can the army be good, if everything else in the country is s*** and mired in nepotism, servility and grovelling?
“Of course, there are morons who draw Zs.
“[But] 90 percent of Russians are AGAINST this war.”
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“Please be more rational and humanitarian.”
Mr Tinkov was sanctioned by the UK Government on March 24 2022.
Announcing the sanctions, Ms Truss said: “These oligarchs, businesses and hired thugs are complicit in the murder of innocent civilians and it is right that they pay the price.
“Putin should be under no illusions – we are united with our allies and will keep tightening the screw on the Russian economy to help ensure he fails in Ukraine.
“There will be no let-up.”
But Mr Tinkov has denied having close links to Putin.
He has lost around £3.8bn over the last month alone as share prices of Russian companies plummeted in the wake of the invasion, Forbes reported.
He is now estimated to be worth approximately £3.8bn.